Family
by DarkAngelLillith
Summary: Sideswipe found him and couldn't bring himself to leave him. How he convinced Sunstreaker to help him raise Prowl is still a mystery.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own them. I just play with them.

**A/N: **I got the idea for this story after finding a community in livejournal for plot bunnies. So, sadly the idea doesn't even belong to me. Like always, tell me of any mistakes you find and I will fix them as soon as I can.

* * *

_**(Past)**_

The first one to find the ghastly sight was a merchant. He was a promising mech that had sadly started as a black market trader. He wasn't proud of it, though he never denied his skill in matters not quite legal. For a mech built to spend his existence as a gladiator, he had fought against all odds to get out of there. To make a living that didn't involve violence. Just him and his brother. It wasn't much, but it was enough for the both of them.

He managed to straighten up as much as he could after his business finally paid off, but he could never leave that life completely… At least not with the amount of information and contacts he'd gathered over the years. The only reason he'd been traveling through that place was because he, once again, found himself in charge of delivering a cache of modified weapons to a small group of protesters.

Sideswipe had left the killing in the past, but even he had to admit Megatron made a lot of sense with those speeches of his. It didn't surprise him that some of the mechs hearing him would start getting violent. Or at least start talking about getting all violent. Most mechs liked to talk big but they didn't actually deliver. Now if they'd been from Kaon he would've felt more troubled about it, but Sideswipe was not one to feel fear easily, least of all by a small group of aristocratic mechs playing low-model rebel.

"Holy Primus!"

Maybe he should've suspected something because the sight that appeared in front of his optics suddenly had him regretting selling those weapons. It had been a massacre. Why would they bother to kill them when it was obvious they carried nothing of value? Everyone knew that the traveling clans made a living of begging or performing for fuel and never carried anything any civilized mech could consider valuable. Not even energon.

"What happened here?"

Yet, the ground littered with the gray bodies and dried mech fluid told of an entire clan being killed in a single night in the outskirts of Iacon. Too far away for anyone to flee to the city for help, but not so far that the horrible crime could remain uncovered. This couldn't be done by the mechs he sold the weapons this time, but what about before? Was he somehow connected to this? Was death all he could ever bring to Cybertron?

He stood there, red and black against a sea of gray. It had been a big clan, maybe eighty mechs and five or six sparklings that he could see. They could've been considered a walking city in itself. A small city, but a city nonetheless and not one survivor in sight.

A cry had him active in less than a second. It wasn't very far, but it was faint. A survivor! Sideswipe began moving the bodies into a pile, desperately hoping to find the one alive before he turned silent.

"Hold on! I'm here! I'll find you, just hold on!"

How much time he spent dragging the dead and searching through the makeshift tents the clans set up for recharging he didn't know. Cybertron's lack of sun and long dead moons were of no help to distinguish the cycles and he had more important things to do. Like find that slagging survivor. It would take him some time to realize that the cries had stopped and there was only silence.

"Hello! Answer me! Say something! Come on!"

He kept adding bodies to the pile and as the mountain grew his hopes of finding whoever had been calling for help diminished. He sighed as he glanced with unseeing optics at the fragile-looking body of a mech curled up as if protecting something. Maybe another dead sparkling… Primus he couldn't take much more of it.

He grabbed the arm of the corpse to drag to the pile and with a sharp tug the body unfurled. From his arms, a small bundle fell on the ground… and a strangled cry of surprise and pain had the red mech hurrying to the bundle.

"Primus! Shhh…. It's okay. It's okay."

A sparkling! A Primus fragging sparkling! Sideswipe took off the polishing rags covering it and held the sparkling at arm's length. The small black and white sparkling made a weak sound of protest at being held that way and squirmed. Sideswipe couldn't help but laugh and pulled it close to him. He recognized that tone! It had been this little thing crying all along.

"So it was you! Said I would find you, didn't I? You're a very strong sparkling, aren't ya?"

The sparkling in question was depleted. It had spent more time than it was healthy without fuel. Crying for those that had taken care of it to the point of death. Sideswipe felt the little one falling into recharge as soon as he held it close to his chassis.

"Tired, eh? Well, don't get too comfortable. I'll drop you off with the first mech responsible to take care of this mess."

It was an awkward hold, the little one sporting a set of panels behind its back. Sideswipe had noticed that most of the clan had door wings. To him, the panels were in their place until the little thing had at least one or two body upgrades.

He glanced at the pile of dead mechs and then at the recharging sparkling. Guilt still pulsed in his spark and he vowed to never again sell another weapon to anyone. If his contacts didn't like it, then they could send him to jail. He'd make sure to get them in there with him.

"For what it's worth, little one, I never meant to cause you any pain. I never wanted anyone else to die. Not anymore."

There was nothing left in the place he found the sparkling. No datapads. No ID chips. Nothing except the corpse of the mech that had held it and the pieces of used polishing cloths that had kept the sparkling unseen to whoever had done this.

"What am I supposed to call you? You can't be Thing forever, can't ya? Who am I talking to? You're deep in whatever it is you sparklings dream off."

The thing squirmed to get comfortable in the awkward hold and Sideswipe felt a small smile coming to his lip components. A smile that faded as soon as he finally studied the small Cybertronian and realized there were graying spots on the panels on its back. Without thinking twice, Sideswipe left the dead clan and hurried back to Iacon, hoping that the little one had enough strength to survive for a while longer.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of you. Always, ya hear? Just hold on a little longer. We can make it. We'll be alright."

He briefly wondered what Sunstreaker's reaction would be like when he arrived with a sparkling, but Sideswipe knew he couldn't leave it. He didn't spend a day among the dead looking for it, only to leave it under the care of some strange mech he didn't know. Sideswipe only trusted two mechs in his life besides himself: Sunstreaker and Wheeljack, the crazy inventor that lived next door. And he wasn't going to leave a sparkling with a mech whose limbs had to be reattached every day or so.

"I can't keep calling ya Thing. How 'bout Flit? Or Covert… Hmm… Whatever, I'll wait until you online and tell me your designation or get bored and call you whatever comes first to the CPU."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own them.

* * *

**(Present)**

"I'm bored," the red one said while tapping his fingers on the wall and only earned a snort from his golden companion.

"You're always bored, you little fragger. It's what got us here in the first place, remember?"

How could he forget? He had it recorded on his memory banks for posterity. That had been the best prank he'd pulled in quite a while. Too bad Prowl didn't find it as humorous.

"Nah. What got me here is Prowlie's lack of sense of humor."

Sunstreaker laughed and was about to speak, probably to remind him that Prowl couldn't afford to have a sense of humor while on duty, when everyone's favorite officer interrupted them.

"Maybe if you two stopped antagonizing him and actually took the time to befriend him you'd realize he does have a sense of humor."

They both looked at the entrance of the room to the visored mech. Jazz didn't even flinch under the combined glares of the twins. Interrupting them always annoyed them. Interrupting them when they were discussing Prowl annoyed them even more.

"And how exactly did you get so much information about Prowl, Jazz?" Sideswipe asked slowly.

He could see the saboteur tense slightly before dropping back into that aggravating easy going stance.

"A proper mech can't kiss and tell, my friend. Besides, it's none of your business, Sides."

Sideswipe could feel his metaphorical hackles rise. If Jazz was implying what he thought Jazz was implying, the black and white was going to die.

"The slag it is," the red twin muttered, intakes hissing as he tried to calm himself and not end up fried by the brig's bars while trying to tackle the smug bastard.

"What?"

Jazz's grin faltered. His visor flickered as he tried to process the meaning behind that statement. Neither he nor Sunstreaker cared much what the others thought, but Prowl really didn't need the added drama.

"Nothing," he replied hastily and Jazz pressed his lips tightly.

"Ya sure? I could've sworn I heard something, " the Porsche said while sitting on the desk where the guard would be if they weren't so used to the twins' stays on the brig.

"Prowl could do much better than you," the golden twin finally spoke.

He didn't even bother to look at the Porsche sprawled on the desk. He continued finishing his sketch of whatever had inspired him at the moment.

"What? What the slag does that mean, Sunstreaker? Like you?" the force behind that statement had Sideswipe staring at Jazz.

The officer was rarely this easy to anger. Sure, the black and white wasn't pissed, but he wasn't all calm and cool anymore.

"Pit no! That would be wrong on so many levels I can't even begin counting," Sunstreaker replied without even missing a beat.

Sideswipe could see Jazz's processor latching on the comment before throwing a confused glance at both twins.

"Look, whatever. I came here to try and convince you to leave Prowl alone, but I'm not doing any good. Enjoy your brig time."

He waved at them both, all happy and giddy again. Sideswipe wondered if anyone else felt dizzy after dealing with Jazz.

"Enjoy being alive, rust bolt!" he called back at the retreating officer.

Scrambled processor or not, he was not going to let that smelted slag excuse of a car get the last word.

"Shut up, Sides. He IS an officer, ya know," Sunstreaker's slightly exasperated tone stopped him from continuing insulting the spec. ops. officer.

Did Sunny even heard what he said?

"Prowl. He's going after Prowl, bro. An insult from me is the least thing he has to worry about," he grumbled and the golden twin sighed before putting away his sketch book.

"No killing the officer, Sides. We like him, remember? He lets us do pranks around the Ark," Sunstreaker said slowly and Sideswipe just glared and sulked.

"Well, I don't like him anymore. And I don't need his slagging permission to do any fragging prank in the Ark."

He knew he sounded like one of those annoying human kids, but he couldn't help it.

"Prowl's been a big mech for quite a while, Sides. If he wants to be with Jazz, well, let him."

Sideswipe felt like smacking his twin. Usually, he would admit Sunny was right and follow his advice, but in this…. No way in the Pit!

"Who knows what sort of viruses he's got? Besides, he's not that old and you know it."

Sunstreaker snorted amused at his words. True, Jazz's interface port saw a lot of action, but not enough to be considered virulent. And Prowl's age was almost the same as the black and white Porsche, give or take a few vorns.

"When will he ever be old enough, Sides? He's Prime's fragging second!" Suntreaker asked him softly while reminding his twin of who really Prowl had become.

Sunstreaker knew his brother was the true volatile twin and could take this out of proportion if he wasn't stopped now and end up giving Prowl and Red Alert even more work.

"Do you want our sparkling to settle for a mech the likes of Jazz?"

Sideswipe's sweet voice annoyed him and Sunstreaker shoved his latest sketch into his twin's hands.

"… … …"

Sideswipe was speechless. The drawing, more like the human's comics, was beautiful. It was him and Sunny escaping the brig and showing Jazz to never… EVER… talk about Prowl like that in front of them. His twin's amused, gruff voice reached him.

" Fine, I'll kill him. You hide the body."

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**A/N:** The idea for this wouldn't leave me after finding the community Transformers Bunny Farm. The plot bunny was:_ "Wait... you're saying that Prowl was raised by the __twins?! As in Sideswipe and Sunstreaker? __Those twins?!"_ Guess who will say that? I'm giving the credit to cheysulinight  
(livejournal name) for this bunny.

Edited: 3/8/09

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	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I do not own them.

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone that reviewed. And special thanks to lstarrunner for helping me fix the first two chapters. You're great! Like always, point out what needs to be fixed and I'll do it as soon as I can.

* * *

_**(Past)**_

Wheeljack got up to the sound of someone trying to smash his door open. Quite a feat, since the owner of the building had reinforced his room until the building could withstand a moderate explosion. He got up from his berth and opened the door, surprised to find one of his neighbors carrying a small sparkling on his doorstep.

"Sideswipe? What are you doing here? Where did you get it?" he asked, systems taking time to get fully online.

"You know medicine, right?" the red mech before him asked, stepping inside the room without waiting for an invitation.

"I know the basic," Wheeljack replied cautiously, "Why?"

He barely finished uttering that question when the inventor found himself with his arms full of recharging sparkling. The little thing didn't even stir. In fact, Wheeljack noticed the black and white was unnaturally still. It wasn't dead, but this was no healthy sparkling. He concentrated on the little one, medical scanners trained on the small figure.

"When was the last time it refueled?" the inventor asked suddenly, urgently.

"Slag if I know," was the reply Sideswipe gave him.

Wheeljack looked horrified for a klik before dashing to his home lab, red twin behind him, and hooking the sparkling to an energon feed.

"Damn you. Why did you bring it here? It needs proper medical care, Sideswipe. It's serious," the inventor told the merchant as he finished adjusting the feed.

"I know it's serious. I can't trust anyone else with it, though. I'm running out of ideas."

Sideswipe's defeated tone caught the inventor by surprise. In all the time that he'd known the twins, none of them had ever sound like that.

Wheeljack sighed tiredly. The sparkling was in bad shape. It needed medical attention and fast. Hopefully, the energon feed would be enough to stop the graying dead areas from getting any bigger and maybe kick start repairs on the less dead areas. The sparkling would still need to have areas replaced and a full processor check up. He wasn't qualified to do that. Pit! Even with someone capable the sparkling could offline.

Sideswipe forced himself to stay still as Wheeljack finished repairs. The inventor had to fix it, if only because Sideswipe couldn't just go to the ERl and demand service. Not when he knew there will be questions that he couldn't answer.

"I'm afraid I can't say for sure that it's going to make it," Wheeljack said while touching the sparkling's hand.

"Why the slag not?" he asked, trying to remain calm.

Wheeljack was a friend. It would do nothing if he mauled the inventor now.

"The degradation is serious. It might have damaged something beside his protoform, Sideswipe," the inventor explained calmly. He walked over to the merchant and placed a hand on his shoulder plate, "I have someone I can call, but you'll have to trust me."

"His clan's dead. Found it outside Iacon. I can't just waltz in an ER with him. It'll be suspicious if I suddenly appeared with a sparkling with no records of ever getting one," the red twin started.

He really didn't want to lose the sparkling. The little one deserved more than what he was giving it, but what else could he do?

Wheeljack gave him a look, "Trust me. I know it's hard for you and your brother to understand that not everyone is out to get your gladiatorial afts, but it needs a real doctor, Sidewipe."

The red mech could only nod at Wheeljack and that was all the permission he needed to send a long distance comm to a friend of his. Ratchet had not been happy that Wheeljack called him on his recharge time and the inventor had to admit he felt slightly guilty. Ratchet barely recharged ever since he graduated from the Academy and started working in the ER. Thankfully, the medic had said he would get there soon.

Sideswipe found himself cradling the sparkling's hand while it recharged. He could see it settled into a less deep recharge, closer to a stand by and felt a weight lift out of his spark. He could feel his twin was now worried about him, but he kept their connection closed. Sunny would learn about this soon enough and he could really do without the added drama right now. He was close to following the sparkling into a light recharge when he vaguely heard Wheeljack opening the door.

"This better not be another one of your 'I blew my legs off please help me' calls," he heard a gruff voice say.

"Aww, come on, Ratch! It was only that one time. Besides, I can guarantee you that it has nothing to do with me and my experiments for once," Wheeljack replied a little bit more cheerfully than Sideswipe thought possible in this circumstance.

"Fine. Show me," the one called Ratchet ground out and Sideswipe heard them coming back into the room.

The white and red mech barely glanced at him and he could feel the medical scanners on his body and for at least three kliks no one said a thing. Sideswipe could feel the medic's frustration growing. Wheeljack's friend was definitely not an early cycle mech. Before he could explain that it wasn't him that needed fixing, the sparkling moved.

The red twin shifted his attention to it, unaware of Ratchet's horrified gasp and Wheeljack's surpised exclamation, "That's impossible! He shouldn't be online with his damage!"

Sideswipe never heard any of it. Instead, he watched as the sparkling clicked and chirped at him while a trembling hand reached for him. The red mech had no idea what it said to him. Mechs coming from the assembly lines were onlined fully grown up. There was no need for having the program that would help him understand it. Mechs like him usually installed the program when they legally acquired a sparkling. He could only grab the smaller hand on his, marveling at the way the sparkling seemed to relax again and fall into recharge.

It was then that he was rudely pushed back by Wheeljack's friend.

"What the slag?" he cried out, relieved that the sparkling remained in recharge instead of awakening to this.

He cried out in pain as one of the medic's tools came in contact with his head.

"Shut the frag up! You should be lucky that I don't report your sorry rusted aft right now!"

Ratchet continued mumbling obscenities at him while working almost feverishly on the sparkling. Sideswipe was glad it was offline because half the things the medic was doing looked painful.

"Ratchet, it's not his. He found it," Wheeljack's voice cut off the medic's rant. The red and white shot him and the inventor an odd look.

"Really?" he drawled, clearly not believing him, "He told you that or do I have to add your name to the report as a conspirator?"

"Now wait a klik, he's…" he was interrupted by a wrench hitting his helmet. And even though he was sure he was now dented, Sideswipe was still amazed by the fact that the medic didn't even missed a beat in his repairs.

"You shut up before I rip out your vocal processor," snarled the medic, while carefully removing the back panels.

It was then Sideswipe noticed that the small gray spots he'd seen before had taken almost completely over those parts.

"Look Ratchet, he didn't make it and he didn't buy it. If he says he found it, he really did. The twins are a lot of things, but this? No," the inventor tried to convince the medic and Sideswipe had to say that it wasn't really working.

In fact, he was sure the medic was halfway done with his report and soon the law bots would come and get them for sparkling endangerment. He watched the medic suddenly stiffen and look at him.

"I can't believe you two were saying the truth," was all he said, before returning to his repairs.

"Wait… what?" Wheeljack said and Sideswipe would've laughed at the dumb expression on the inventor if it wasn't because he felt even more lost.

"Got a message from the Iacon Law Enforcers. A clan that was expected to arrive was found terminated. They want all able medics to analyze the bodies before they're sent to the recycle centers," Ratchet explained.

Sideswipe felt like taking a guess and saying that the medic was being friendly. Except that the glare directed at him stopped him from making that guess.

"Is there a reason why most bodies are in a pile, Idiot?"

"I had to move them to find the sparkling," Sideswipe replied. He could see the medic was not pleased with the answer.

"Great, a disturbed crime scene. That's going to frag the whole investigation."

He made a throwing motion that had the red twin ducking in case the medic decided to check how good his throwing arm was.

"I guess saving a sparkling merits the annoyance this will most probably be. Why the frag are you squatting for, Idiot?"

Sideswipe stood straight. He couldn't believe he was actually slightly intimidated by the lousy medic. A fact that unnerved him greatly. Sideswipe knew he was bigger and stronger than the fragger, and so far the medic had done anything and everything he wanted with the twin.

"Are you done?"

"Hold your turbo-foxes, Idiot," was the answer and Sideswipe watched as a gray patch on its arm was surgically removed before being replaced and welded in place, "There. That's all I can do for him. His body should heal completely in two or three cycles. Given that it is fueled properly. There _is_ some damage to his processor. It is not a critical error so he should be safe, but I am unable to tell you how it will affect the sparkling. He needs to be taken to a hospital as soon as possible for that to be determined."

Sideswipe looked at the small sparkling. Processor damage… That was something he learned to fear back when he was still a gladiator. Many had been the fighters that had been sent to the recycling centers due to processor damage.

"I can't…," he began, and quickly had to duck a flying wrench. He heard it hit something and when he looked back, he found the tool half embedded on the wall… The blast-proof reinforced wall.

"Yes you can, Idiot. What do you think I have been doing, since I can't report your sorry aft? I filled and approved a custody report and sent it to the sparkling database. All files and documents will be sent to you in a matter of cycles, but now I'm taking your aft to the ER with it," the medic said in a blaze of fury before transforming into an emergency transport.

Wheeljack, who had been watching everything thoroughly amused since it wasn't him under Ratchet's friendly ministrations, quickly moved to put the sparkling inside his friend. Ratchet left as soon as the sparkling was secured. Sideswipe watched him go, turning to Wheeljack.

"Jack, if my brother comes asking for me, explain," he said and transformed, "Oh and Jack... Thanks."

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Edited: 3/8/09


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

* * *

**(Present)**

Prowl stepped into his quarters already planning to have a quiet night of reading and an early recharge. The door closed behind him and he stopped, noticing the two figures sitting on his berth.

"What are you doing here?"

"Visiting," Sunstreaker said, while waving at Prowl.

" Are we not allowed to do that now?" Sideswipe chirped from his place beside his brother, grinning at the Datsun.

"I was merely asking. You know you're always welcome here," Prowl replied as he went to his desk looking for a datapad to read.

"Yeah, I know. Makes me wonder who else is welcomed, Covert,"

The chiding tone had Prowl turning to look at the red Lamborghini, door wings moving until they were almost straight up on his back.

"Could you refrain from calling me_ that_. I am not a sparkling anymore," the Datsun replied, his calm tone of voice betrayed by the position of the door wings on his back.

Sunstreaker chuckled, "He's right, Siders. Can't call the little thing Covert anymore. Prowl suits him better," he replied while draping an arm around his brother's shoulders.

Prowl's door wings drooped down slightly, realizing they were not going to leave any time soon. Still, he grabbed the datapad Jazz had given him. A translated human book called _The Art of War_.

"That's cause you gave him that designation, fragger," Sideswipe continued, already having this conversation memorized.

His brother laughed and took his arm away.

"No, it's because Sunstreaker actually gave me a good designation. You always called me 'thing' and 'little slagger'. The first designation was embarrassing enough back then and I am sure Prime would not think the latter proper for his second," Prowl added, reading comfortably.

Just because they were here didn't mean he had to stop doing what he planned. This conversation was as old as his coming of age. The fact that it still amused the two mechs rough housing on his berth never failed to amuse Prowl in turn. How did he survive with these two as guardians? Better not think about that, or else he'd be seeing Ratchet soon.

"Meh… I still say Covert was better," Sideswipe finally said, ending the argument with his brother as victor this time.

"Maybe, but that is the past. Now, please explain the earlier query about who is allowed in my quarters," Prowl asked without looking up at them.

"Merely wondering if my little bundle of gears is not so little anymore," Sideswipe replied innocently, one hand dramatically placed over his chest plate as he wiped an imaginary tear from his optics.

"He wants to know if you're 'facing with Jazz," Sunstreaker helpfully added, after seeing Prowl's confused look at his brother.

"Excuse me?" The Datsun asked, trying valiantly to keep his glitch at bay. Of all the things they could say…

"Tell me you're not plugging into that assembly line reject," Sideswipe continued, oblivious to the confusion on the black and white's processor.

Sunstreaker's jab on his side made him stop talking.

Releasing air from his vents, Prowl decided to ignore their question. He'd learned a long time ago he either ignored it or onlined at the Iacon Hospital to Ratchet's questionable manners.

"You know, I am not answering the question and I am not going to ask where you got such a ridiculous idea. I don't think Ratchet will be too happy if I glitch now. Instead, I will show you something Spike brought the other day."

"Spike?" both mechs asked at the same time and Prowl had to smile. They both had the attention span of a turbo-rat.

"Bumblebee's human friend. I thought you would like it, so I asked for Wheeljack to modify them to our size and specs," Prowl said, while putting the datapad down and making his way to a small storage compartment and taking out three boxes.

"What's that?" Sideswipe asked excitedly, rushing to take the boxes from him.

"Virtual simulators. Painfully outdated, but Wheeljack was disappointed to know that upgrading them made all the available programs incompatible."

Plus it made them explode too, but Prowl thought that went without saying. The black and white let Sideswipe take the boxes from him and went back to his datapad.

"Virtual… Is that a Playstation 3 and an Xbox 360?" Sunstreaker asked, finally joining his brother, who was busy tearing into the boxes.

"Affirmative."

"I got dibs on the DS," Sideswipe cried triumphantly.

Sunstreaker, though, stared silently at Prowl before speaking, "Wait a sec, Prowl. You're not a gift giving mech without a damn good reason,"

His words made the red mech shift his attention away from the gifts to Prowl.

Prowl managed to not squirm under both twins' stare, "It's a silly human tradition of sorts called Father's Day. Kind of like a mech giving it's creators a gift to show their gratitude for being created or bought," he finished his explanation, quite proud that he didn't look up at them.

It was already bad enough that he knew how silly and illogical this gesture had been, the last thing he wanted was to see their faces and confirm it.

"But we're not really…"

Sideswipe's voice made him look away from the datapad; head cocked to one side as he studied the twin.

"You saved me and put up with me. Did everything to reduce the damage of my processor to a simple glitch. And I know you still ask Ratchet to see if he can fix that. Left everything to follow me when I joined the army. You didn't have to do that. All the gifts that I can give you will never be enough to express my gratitude," Prowl replied as he went back to reading.

The fact that he really would appreciate if they stopped their antics was not missed. The twins have been avoiding talking about their behavior ever since that one time back in Cybertron. Of course, his gift had a high probability of managing to keep them out of trouble for quite a while. It had been the only way he could logically explain the gift to himself.

"Meh… We did it because we felt like it, Thing. Now come here and grab a controller. It's time to kick some alien aft, Master Chief style," Sideswipe replied, making Prowl frown at the horrid name.

Sunstreaker was less subtle about it, yanking the datapad from his hands.

So much for his plans of having a quiet night.

* * *

Edited: 3/8/09


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

**A/N:** Thanks to all the people that reviewed. I love you guys so much for taking the time to do it. As always, tell me of any mistakes and I will fix them as soon as possible.

"talking"

/bond/

* * *

_**(Past)**_

Sideswipe was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital bored out of his processor. He arrived to find that Ratchet was already treating the sparkling due to complications on the way and there was nothing else for him to do than wait. Half a joor went by when one of the healers took him aside for an interview.

The healer was nothing special. Most probably factory made since Sideswipe had seen plenty of the same model during his gladiatorial days. He followed the healer to a small office and waited as he sat down and got comfortable.

"I need to verify that your designation is Sideswipe and you are a model X90," the healer began, reading the information from the computer on the desk and sparing the red twin a glance to see his answer.

Sideswipe merely nodded, optics narrowing in suspicion. That Ratchet medic had said there would be no problems and yet here he was…

"Good," the other continued, "My designation is Rotosplit. I'm here regarding the sparkling that medic Ratchet brought in. I trust you know who I'm talking about."

Sideswipe nodded again while trying to not start asking questions about the sparkling's status right now.

"Good," Rotosplit said again, "Records show that prior to Ratchet's arrival to the hospital he filed and sent ownership documents that name you, Sideswipe, as the sole owner of the sparkling due to alleged abandonment of the sparkling. Now, is that true?"

"Yeah. I found it and took it to someone that could help."

"And where did you find it?"

Sideswipe's optics flickered as he pushed back the memory of his search among the dead, "On my way back. I was out of the city on business."

The medic made a noncommittal sound, still looking at the slagging computer.

"Good. Records show you were away on business and were scheduled back today. Consistency and proof are very nice to have," Rotosplit said more to himself than to Sideswipe.

The twin was doing his best to remain calm and not tear the wiring out of the medic's neck. The glitchhead could at least look at him when he was talking.

"Well, Sideswipe, you are an extremely lucky bot. The sparkling is not from Iacon and it's too young to have records of its own. What little information it has is most likely a small attachment on its creators' files. There are no records of missing sparklings anywhere, which already have the law enforcers in quite a snit. But, since you went to a medic for help, you are pretty much a hero right now. Primus knows there aren't many sparklings left," the medic said in a pretty annoying matter-of-fact tone.

Sideswipe hated whenever someone talked like that. It reminded him of his old battle instructor. The unfeeling fragger deserved to offline like he did; by his own weapon in a training accident. It was the most humiliating, and most common, way to die for a mech like him.

The medic was finally looking at him. Sideswipe was sure he was expecting the twin to do something except stay silent. Might as well humor him…

"How's the sparkling?"

The medic's optics flickered on and off before turning back to the computer.

"Sparkling 314-06910-I is in surgery. Its back panels and back plating had to be removed for a second time and replaced with new parts to stop the gray sickness from spreading. We will monitor the rest of the gray areas that Ratchet treated, but so far it looks like the rest of its repairs were successful. Now, the real problem is in its processor. It was damaged by the gray sickness and though that usually means a merciful offlining in adult Cybertronians, the sparkling is still in a very adaptable stage. That means the damaged areas could heal after some time and if not; we already know the outcome to that, don't we? It will need to be carefully monitored after leaving the hospital. Anything you find strange I expect you to inform us immediately," Rotosplit finished and glanced up to measure the reaction of the red mech.

Sideswipe cycled air and suddenly felt half a ton lighter. He didn't know he was that tense over the little thing.

"Don't worry, doc. I'll take good care of it."

"I expect you to do that and I will not hesitate on bringing the enforcers after your aft if I think you are not performing your creator duties," the medic said a little forcefully and Sideswipe grinned at the hint of emotion the mech in front of him finally showed.

Rotosplit took out various data pads from subspace and handed them to Sideswipe. The red twin stared at them curiously.

"Download the information they have and you will be able to understand it when it talks. Also, they have important information on how to take care of it."

Sideswipe snorted, optics carefully studying the datapads.

"I once tried downloading some info of a pad to help me start my business and my systems almost crashed. I'm incompatible with the format or something."

"Impossible. The only ones unable to download information like that are the G and W models," the medic said haughtily, until he saw Sideswipe's smirk.

"I'm a G-X90 model," the red twin said, straightening to his full height and giving the medic his best killing glare.

Rotosplit's optics brightened in apprehension.

"Primus…," he cried, "Why didn't you correct me earlier? I already approved the ownership documents!"

"But I am an X90 model!"

"Look, you can't take care of a sparkling. None of you fighter types can," the medic said in a pitying tone that made Sideswipe wish he could really beat the living slag out of him.

No one told Sideswipe what he could or couldn't do. Not anymore.

"I can take care of it!"

"You won't understand what it wants. That will make you angry and well… We all know how you G and W models are like when you get mad."

Sideswipe snorted again, clearly disgusted by the medic's words.

"We have a temper, but you don't see me destroying the hospital just cause you made me mad. And who says I can't take care of it 'cause I don't understand it?"

The medic was looking at him as if waiting to be mauled. Sideswipe smirked, happy with just staring at him and watch him get all nervous. He didn't have Sunny's love of violence, but he definitely lived for the thrill of watching others squirm.

"I… I never said that. I mean… Those are the rules and… and well it is certainly easier to… uhmm… to care for something when… when… you know what it wants," the medic stuttered. Optics set to detect Sideswipe's every move.

He knew from other medics how violent these types of mechs could be. That was why he chose to specialize in sparkling care. The little things could not rip his spark out of his chassis or something equally painful.

Sideswipe had not been a champion for nothing and was basking on the healer's fear. It didn't matter that he disliked the fighting. This was something he knew, was familiar with and had always been able to conquer.

He tilted his head, smirk still in place, right hand closing in a fist, unconsciously. Rotosplit's optics brightened and widened.

"Not that I think you can't do it. In fact, all the documents have already been sent and approved so there's no reason to even be talking anymore."

The poor healer got up and headed for the door, eyes trained on Sideswipe and reluctant to turn his back on the red mech, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Sideswipe. Your sparkling should be out of surgery soon, so… good luck."

Sideswipe stifled a laugh as he watched the healer leave. The poor mech was almost running and Sideswipe almost pitied him. It was always good to know he still could intimidate a mech into doing whatever he wanted without outright threatening him.

/SIDESWIPE! YOU GLITCHHEAD! YOU BLOCKED ME!/

Sideswipe almost doubled over in pain as the block he placed on the bond with his brother was torn down forcefully. Sunstreaker's anger had him wincing.

/Look, Sunny, I'm sorry. I can explain,/ Sideswipe sent back almost tentatively.

/The Pit you can! Wheeljack told me where you are. And I'm already on my way. Next time one of your old business buddies appears with a job for you I'll weld you to the wall and make you watch as I turn him into a sculpture,/ was the angered reply and Sideswipe winced again, gaining a funny look from a medic passing him by.

Sideswipe wasn't really afraid of Sunstreaker's threat. What really scared him a little was the hint of fear he could sense from his yellow twin. He hadn't been thinking about Sunny when he blocked his twin and well… He hadn't meant to worry the yellow slag head.

/I'll tell someone that you're coming. We still haven't scared the living spark out of the medics in this hospital and I'd like to keep it that way./

/Afraid they won't treat us?/ Sunstreaker asked and Sideswipe smiled softly. If he was teasing the red twin then he was almost forgiven.

/Nah. Afraid they'll take it out on our sparkling. Plus there's this medic that likes to throw wrenches. Pretty good aim too, so for the sake of both our cranial units it'll be better to behave./

There was a sudden rush of emotions coming from Sunstreaker and Sideswipe hanged on to the wall as he built a partial block again to keep them out. Sideswipe was left reeling and trying to get the dizzy feeling out of his processor when Sunstreaker's shock and surprise reached him again.

/Did you just say sparkling?/

* * *

Edited: 3/8/09


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

**A/N:** As always, tell me of any mistakes and I will fix them as soon as possible.

* * *

_**(Present)**_

Sunstreaker entered the rec. room looking for his brother, but the slagger was not there. He ignored the other mechs trying to think where would the red Lamborghini be, when he noticed Prowl was sitting alone, energon cube in his hands, at the back of the room.

Something was bothering him, Sunstreaker concluded, as he studied the way the doorwings stood on the back of the SIC. And it wasn't just something simple. No, Prowl looked like he was on the verge of locking up.

So much for finding Sideswipe and forcing him to polish his back. The golden Lamborghini got a cube for himself before striding to the back of the room and taking a seat beside the Datsun. He ignored the others looking at him. They might as well stare at the beautiful sight before them. It's the only thing they would ever be able to do anyway.

"Credit for your thoughts," he finally spoke, taking a sip from his cube and looking at Prowl. His tone of voice was low, almost a whisper. Just because he didn't mind being stared at didn't mean he wanted to be eavesdropped too.

"What?"

Sunstreaker chuckled at the Datsun's confused expression, "Modified Earth saying. I got it from Sideswipe and I haven't bee able to purge it. It's a way of signaling I am willing to hear what has your processor almost on the verge of locking up."

"Ah. It is not important, Sunstreaker," Prowl commented as he too drank from his cube. One of the doorwings twitched and Sunstreaker glanced at it.

"You were always a bad liar, Prowl. Now talk to me. I may not have the answer but I'm better looking than that quack psychologist we have running around."

Prowl blinked and turned his head to look at him, "That is the most disturbing comment you could have made."

His expression was serious, but Sunstreaker could see the almost microscopical smile. Sometimes it paid to have an eye for details.

"But true. Now stop stalling and tell daddy everything."

Prowl sighed and downed what was left of his cube, "Must everything be a joke to you two? Do you have any idea how hard I have to work only to have you two doing your best to mess everything up whenever you get bored? And I have tried to come up with a logical explanation, but I cannot find anything. Nothing except…"

"Except what?"

Somehow Sunstreaker knew he wouldn't like the answer. The last time Prowl tried to address their behavior it hadn't been pretty. Of course, that was also the first time Sunstreaker lost his temper and attacked someone. The golden twin almost winced as he remembered the rumors after he did that. No wonder Prowl had been so mad back then.

"Except that you simply do not respect me. I have done my best in everything and yet you still find me lacking."

"What? No!" he cried out, making the others in the room stand in defense of the Datsun who calmly looked at them, a raised optic ridge telling them they were acting ridiculous.

Once everyone had returned to their previous activities, Sunstreaker continued, "It's not that, Prowl and I'm really sorry if that's what we made you think. You're the best thing to happen to us. Look at everything you've done. It's amazing."

Sunstreaker wasn't expecting this and he really wanted to contact Sideswipe now and tell him, but the slagger was still blocking him. Prowl merely shook his head and slumped down. He looked so tired right now and Sunstreaker couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Then what is it? Explain it to me because frankly, I am tired of freezing up whenever I try to look for another answer."

The Lamborghini shrugged. The answer was so simple he knew Prowl would not be satisfied by it.

"Programming. Sides and I were made to kill. In the arena, there are no following orders, just survival. And we were the best fighters in the arena because of it. After all, if one of us died the other would follow. And it wasn't just being the strongest or the fastest. It wasn't just knowing you could rip them apart at the seams and decorate the floor with their internals. It was showing it to the others inside and outside of the arena."

He wasn't lying. He lost count of the times another mech was killed because a fighter was jealous… or someone was a bad loser. He and Sides had to fight to become champions and had to obliterate the competition to remain at the top. And _that _wasn't always done where the crowds could see.

"That does not explain why you behave that way. Besides, this is not the arena."

"Might as well be with all the fighting going around," he commented, ignoring Prowl's grunt, "And it does explain our behavior. It might seem strange to you, Prowl. You only knew of this side of us through stories and our harassing you into learning some sort of fighting style. Sure, we weren't saints around you, but you never really saw how bad our tempers could get."

"So, the programming installed to make you better fighters is what makes you act this way?" Prowl asked and Sunstreaker could see how he tried see the logic in it.

Specially after they had gone against their programming once and managed to lead normal lives before.

"Yep. Plus we have this slight problem with mechs trying to tell us what to do. Bad experience with our battle instructor. And no, I am not telling you what he did. I _can_ tell you that we_ do_ try to keep our more dark traits restricted to the battlefield. Sideswipe was always better at it than me, I'm afraid. Then again, that's probably why he's always pranking everybody. Better to do that than go on a rampage like me."

Sunstreaker downed his cube, trying to keep the memories of his battle instructor at bay. Those were not happy times. He glanced at Prowl, who was looking at him before incorporating his answer to the one he gave before. It probably made more sense to him that way.

Sunstreaker's voice was faint, but it still caught Prowl's attention. The golden mech was staring at his hands, optics dim.

"In a way, Prowl, you saved us from becoming Decepticons. If you hadn't entered our lives we probably would've joined Megatron. Clashing paint or not, his words appealed to the killer in us."

There was a silence between them. Sunstreaker lost in memories from before the war… before the life he had fought so hard to get. When there was only death and pain and his brother. Prowl's voice took him out of his musing.

"I guess, I could live with a few pranks now and again. Just…"

"Yes?"

"Give me a break from time to time, please," Prowl said, turning so that Sunstreaker was the only one to see him smile, "And no beating the minibots."

"Sure, Prowly. Anything for my cute little son. I'll even avoid the little slag-ugly midgets. Now be a dear and help polish my back."

* * *

Edited: 3/8/09


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**A/N: **Thanks to all the people that reviewed! The next chapter done in the past will have a slight jump. It will also focus more on Prowl than this one. Like always, tell me of my mistakes and I'll fix them as soon as possible.

"talking"

/bond/

* * *

_**(Past)**_

Sideswipe had to give his brother some credit. He hadn't terrorized the entire hospital when he arrived. Maybe it was the shock of what Sideswipe told him, but Sunstreaker had just marched up to him and dragged him into a random office. Sideswipe made a small note to apologize to the medic that had been using the office before Sunny threw him out. The last thing he needed now was to show Rotowhatever that he was right about him being a danger to the sparkling. The red twin knew the double glitched slagger would use Sunny's outburst as soon as he learned that the golden mech was his twin. And there was going to be an investigation so Sideswipe was very sure that little fact will pop up once they get to read his entire file.

"Are you even hearing me, you two-bit slagger?" Sunstreaker snarled quite loudly, looming over Sideswipe who was trying very hard to stay calm and not answer his brother's challenge the best way he knew how. By punching the slagger's face until he backed down.

Sideswipe shrugged nonchalantly and moved away from Sunstreaker, "Course I am. I just don't feel like arguing here."

"And I'm not waiting until you bring that thing to the apartment. Are you out of your processing capabilities?" the golden twin said, tone of voice lower, as he stomped over towards his brother.

Sideswipe held his ground this time, looking at Sunstreaker in the optics.

"I know what I'm doing, bro. I may not have everything planned out, but you weren't there… You didn't see…," his voice wavered and Sideswipe cursed at showing that small sign of weakness to his brother when the slagger was trying to intimidate him into doing what he wanted.

"How could I when you kept me out the entire time?" Sunstreaker asked, anger quite clearly shown on his face.

Sideswipe shrugged again, "The less you knew the better, remember? That's what you said about my business."

The red twin fidgeted when Sunstreaker merely stepped closer, "Look, I'll tell you more when I can. Just…"

The golden mech narrowed his optics, but remained silent. If Sideswipe wasn't opening the bond to tell him then whatever it was had affected him more than he was showing. Sunstreaker debated the wisdom of his next course of action before using their bond.

/Tell me./

The command laced with concern reached Sideswipe's processor and his optics flickered in surprise. He wasn't expecting that from his brother.

/It's not pretty, Sunny,/ came the worn out reply from Sideswipe and Sunstreaker's worry grew as it reached his processor filled with horror and disbelief.

/Who cares? You're not pretty either but you don't see me complaining over having to see you./

Sideswipe smiled softly at the way his brother tried to cheer him up. Sunstreaker had absolutely zero mech skills but he always tried his best with Sideswipe. It didn't hurt that Sunstreaker was sending him nice fuzzy feelings to try to comfort him.

/You're such a riot, Sunny,/ he sent, giving in to his brother's demand.

He knew Sunstreaker wouldn't understand if he only told him what had happened, /I'll show ya/

Sunstreaker tilted his head and without a word took a seat behind the desk. Sideswipe took the last remaining chair and got comfortable. A nod from his brother was all he got as a sign that he was ready and Sideswipe slowly dropped down all the firewalls he had built on his side of the bond. He could feel his brother doing the same until there was nothing to separate them.

Sunstreaker's body jerked as he was thrust into Sideswipe's self. A life of learning how to deal with the sudden rush of emotions and memories was what kept him from loosing his self in the maelstrom. He saw what Sideswipe saw. He felt what Sideswipe felt. He knew what Sideswipe knew. Everything from the moment they were sparked until now. The few secrets the red twin had were no more. For as long as the bond was wide open he might as well be Sideswipe.

And though he knew it hadn't been him, Sunstreaker lived through the entire ordeal. It was him that had the questionable business. It was him who had found the clan. It had been him carrying the dead in hope to find the one being still alive. It had been him asking Wheeljack for help and meeting the wrench-wielding Ratchet. And it had been him cradling the small little dying sparkling close to his chest plate.

Sideswipe's body twitched slightly as he was enveloped in everything that was Sunstreaker. He almost lost himself in the storm that made up his brother, but caught himself in time. He relieved everything through his brother's eyes and processor. There was nothing more intoxicating than knowing you were the most beautiful being on the universe. That you were strong and powerful. Sideswipe relished the feelings making art brought up.

Sideswipe could feel Sunstreaker trying to separate from him and started doing the same. Slowly building back the firewalls that would dampen their bond and kept them as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. The red twin's optics lightened up as he sluggishly straightened up on the chair. Ugh, he was so filthy and his paintjob was looking dull. He dismissed the thought knowing it wasn't his thought in the first place.

Sideswipe knew every time they did this was dangerous. There was a reason spark-split twins were rare. They shared one spark and were essentially one being. Few were the cases when the two mechs learned to control the bond that connected them. Many were the cases where the two personalities got lost in a battle for dominance and had to be terminated as soon as the problem was discovered. He even heard a rumor that there was one case of a set of twins where the stronger personality overpowered and destroyed the weaker. Becoming one mech in two bodies. The last one was probably an exaggeration, but Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had decided to be more cautious since they heard it.

Sunstreaker's optics flickered for a moment before finally powering up. He shuddered in disgust and shame. He knew the shame wasn't his though, but he couldn't just shake it away.

"Fine. We'll keep the little slagger. But you better keep that promise about stopping the business," Sunstreaker said slowly as he checked his paintjob to see if he had damaged it while on his little trip into Sideswipe's processor.

Sideswipe grinned at his brother and nodded. His legit business was doing pretty good and Sunstreaker's art had been selling quite well this past few deca-cycles. They wouldn't need to go back to the pit.

"Notice my lack of surprise at your incompetence," drawled the voice of Wheeljack's friend from the door.

Sideswipe turned to stare at the white medic, who was leaning on the doorframe and playing with a wrench. Did he carry those everywhere?

"How's…"

"The sparkling's fine," Ratchet interrupted, eyeing Sideswipe and sending a glare at Sunstreaker who hadn't moved from his seat behind the desk.

"And the damage?"

Ratchet sighed, for one fleeting moment showing how tired he actually was. Sideswipe shifted in his seat remembering it was his fault the medic was that tired in the first place.

"We're hoping that it'll go away almost completely as he gets older. Upgrading him is unadvisable for the time being, but once the extent of the damage is confirmed he can be upgraded."

"What was the problem?"

"Behavioral protocols and commands were damaged. It is uncertain how the damage will present itself at the moment. He might demand more attention than normal. He might not ask for things he need, and that includes fuel. He might attack himself or others. Or, in the best of scenarios, he might slowly find a way to rewrite what was damaged and lead a normal existence."

"Oh…," Sideswipe looked down and fidgeted again.

"I wouldn't worry about him right now," Ratchet said as he slowly made his way to the red twin. Sideswipe noticed the wrench was gone, but a really mean looking welder had taken its place.

"You have exactly one breem to tell me what the slag were you doing threatening my staff? And out of all the mechs, it had to be the one assigned to your case."

Sideswipe frowned, "I didn't threaten anyone. Sunny threw out one medic and maybe the one at the entrance has minor injuries, but that wasn't me," he crossed his arms, glaring at the white mech, "And if it was the mech that got all freaked out when he learned I was a G model, I didn't even touch him."

Ratchet's optics flickered as he registered what the red twin told him,"You…"

Sideswipe was expecting the usual fear and awe that usually accompanied such a statement. Instead, he got hit over the helm.

"Idiot! Should've told me that sooner."

Sideswipe could feel the amusement coming from Sunstreaker. Slagger was watching everything with glee. At least until Ratchet turned his optics on him. Sideswipe resisted the urge to giggle when the medic stomped over to his twin.

"You! Are you like him too?"

Sunstreaker tilted his head,"Yes."

Sideswipe recognized that look on his brother's face. It was the look that said he was debating if he should hit the medic or not.

"Guess now's a bad time to tell you we can't download a thing about sparkling care," Sideswipe chirped trying to get the medic's attention before Sunstreaker got them thrown out of yet another hospital.

"Unlike you, I use my processor," Ratchet drawled as he sat on the edge of the desk, "I know you're incompatible. But…"

"You can help?"

"Maybe. It'll take time because it will require modifying core programming."

"Don't see why ya need to do that."

"There's a reason it's incompatible. Sparkling care requires a level of caring. Empathy and other useful things for nurturing the sparkling. Fighting models such as you two don't need those kind of feelings. They will only hinder you when performing your duty. If you even dared to download one of them…"

"I know. System failure," Sideswipe waved away the medic's explanation.

Ratchet glared and hopped off the desk.

"Come, Idiot," the white mech said as he left the room, "And bring your yellow bondmate with you."

"For the record, he's not my bondmate," Sideswipe cried indignantly while Sunstreaker's optics flickered as he stood up.

Ratchet looked back at him and Sideswipe added, "Well, he is and isn't."

"We're twins," Sunstreaker said as he walked behind his brother.

"You just had to make everything difficult," Ratchet muttered as he entered a small room.

* * *

Edited: 3/8/09


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **Still not mine.

**A/N: **Like always, tell me of my mistakes and I'll fix them as soon as possible.

"talking"

* * *

_**(Present)**_

"Hey, Ratch! Have you seen Prowl?"

The saboteur walked in the medbay, effectively disrupting Ratchet's work. The mech in question raised an optic ridge as he looked at the Porsche.

"Last time I checked, this was my medbay and Prowl's office was beside Optimus' office"

"I already looked there. He's not there."

Jazz seemed upset, something that surprised the medic.

"I… I heard a rumor and wanted to see if it was true."

"What rumor?" Ratchet's curiosity demanded to be satisfied. Something that rattled the Special Ops officer needed to be known.

Jazz sighed as he sat on one of the berths looking miserable.

"That he and Sunstreaker are polishing each others' armors."

Ratchet blinked. Now that was amusing. Cool, styling Jazz jealous of Sunstreaker. Correction, cool, styling Jazz jealous of Prowl's adopted creator. The medic held back a grin.

"If I didn't knew any better, I'd say you were jealous."

The saboteur straightened up, "Jealous? Me? Nah!"

Ratchet merely nodded and went back to finish his work, aware that the black and white mech had not left. They spent a few minutes in silence until Jazz spoke.

"So…"

Ratchet noticed the slight nervous tone on the other's vocalizer. But Jazz never had the chance to finish what he was going to say because someone entered the medbay.

Ratchet looked up at Jazz's strangled gasp. Prowl was there and Ratchet could clearly see the Datsun had spent time with Sunstreaker. The golden twin's vanity sometimes extended to the appearance of his family units. It appears that this time Sunstreaker had his way and polished Prowl. The tactician's paintjob looked almost new and the black and white Datsun looked contented.

"What do you want?" he asked the tactician.

"Sunstreaker is in need of a new polishing rag," the SIC replied calmly. Shiny door wings held straight behind him.

"Slagger refuses to use the same rag he used on you, right?"

Prowl shrugged, a small amused smile on his face, "It is not a new occurrence. I doubt he will change any time soon."

Ratchet looked for a new rag and handed it to the Datsun. Optics turning to study Jazz, who looked as if someone had just deleted his entire music collection. Prowl followed the ambulance's optics and blinked at the sight of the saboteur, door wings twitching.

"What is wrong, Jazz?"

"It's nothing, Prowler," the Porsche replied, bouncing back and looking as happy as always, "Just need some recharge nothing more."

Prowl studied him in silence and Ratchet had to hold on a snort at the obvious acting from the saboteur. Usually, it was hard to know if the visored mech was telling the truth or not. Prowl seemed satisfied with Jazz's words, although Ratchet believed it was more likely that Prowl decided it was futile to get Jazz to talk when he didn't want to, and left.

Ratchet waited patiently for Jazz to speak. When he did, the medic was surprised by the undisguised sad tone.

"Guess it wasn't a rumor."

"Jazz…"

"Save it," Jazz replied getting up and walking out of the medbay. The black and white got halfway when he turned, visor flashing, "How can you let that happen? What does Prowl see in him? What can Sunstreaker give him? You heard him! He's not even worthy to share the same polishing rag as that yellow slagger!"

Ratchet blinked, maybe it was better if he told Jazz the truth, "Look, it's not what you think."

"I don't think anything, Ratchet. I saw. I heard. Sunstreaker's using him… Has been using him and he…he doesn't mind," Jazz made a sound akin to a sob before punching the medbay wall while screaming, "SLAG!"

And before Ratchet could get his CPU straight after witnessing his outburst, Jazz had whirled and left the medbay.

* * *

Edited: 3/8/09


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **Do not own.

**A/N: **Thanks to all the people that reviewed. In this chapter, Prowl has been with Sideswipe for at least two weeks. Not that big of a time jump, but one of many to come. Like always, tell me of any mistakes you see and I'll fix them as soon as possible.

* * *

_**(Past)**_

Sideswipe stood over the sparkling watching it recharge with a frown. According to the medic, Thing was at least a meta-cycle old. Sideswipe knew there would be problems, but knowing it wasn't the same as actually seeing it.

"Aren't you going to wake it up? It's already a breem past its feeding time," Sunstreaker said, walking into the room and joining his brother's side.

Sideswipe cycled air. He knew his brother was worried about him, but he hadn't been able to recharge and was feeling extremely tired.

"You weren't there Sunny. The only reason those caretakers aren't scrap right now is because Thing was there."

"Don't want to traumatize it so soon?" Sunstreaker paused before lightly hitting his brother over the head, "And don't call me that."

Sideswipe glared, but the golden twin ignored him.

"I'm not joking Sunstreaker. The things that he said… I mean, he's supposed to be running a place that cares for sparklings and he goes and tells me _that_."

Sunstreaker grunted, crossing his arms and looking at the sparkling, whose back panels fluttered as he recharged.

"Enlighten me, bro."

Sideswipe's hand gently caressed the sparkling's helmet, "You know all those sounds he makes?"

"All the chirping and whistling? I thought he was just happy," Sunstreaker said dismissively, although Sideswipe could feel a slight twinge of worry through their bond.

"I thought so too, bro. But that son of a glitch was very pleased to inform me my sparkling doesn't speak at all. Turns out he's just sings gibberish," the red mech replied, taking his hand away and nudging the sparkling awake, "We haven't seen him cry either."

They both watched as the sparkling's optics turned on. The sparkling sat, chirping happily at nothing in particular, back panels stretching.

"I thought that crying meant we weren't doing a good job," Sunstreaker commented while watching his brother pick up the sparkling.

He always found the sight of his brother picking up the tiny thing as if he could break it with one wrong move amusing. He knew he had to look as ridiculous as his brother, but it wasn't as if he went out on the streets carrying Thing like his brother did. The sparkling carrier attachment messed up his symmetry.

"I thought so too, but apparently it's not normal if they don't cry from time to time," Sideswipe said as he carried the sparkling to get their morning energon.

"So that crankcase said Thing wasn't normal?" the anger was thinly veiled in that statement.

Sideswipe snorted, sitting the sparkling on the table and helping it drink down the energon. Thing made it difficult by trying to drink and chirp at the same time.

"I wouldn't want to kill him if he'd said just that, you know."

Sunstreaker walked over and rubbed the sparkling's back panels. The sparkling's optics flickered and it stopped trying to make sounds.

"Then what did he say?"

"He said… He said that I was lucky to not be able to get attached to Thing because it was better if I scheduled the termination myself."

Sunstreaker stopped what he was doing to stare at his brother. Sideswipe was staring at the sparkling.

"You're not considering it, are you?"

The golden mech reached through his bond for the answer, but his brother blocked him and Sunstreaker felt his fuel pump falter. Sideswipe's left hand caressed the sparkling's helmet again.

"I… I don't know, Sunny."

"What the slag does that mean?" Sunstreaker asked, raising his voice, but besides a slight pause to click happily and a twitch of it's back panels the sparkling didn't seem to notice.

"You see! It should be afraid of that, cause Primus knows that scares everybody else, but it isn't! It doesn't cry. Apparently, it doesn't speak either. Or at least that's what everyone else keeps saying because _we _don't understand it!"

Sideswipe's outburst made the sparkling flicker his optics and turn to look at Sunstreaker. The golden twin watched his brother with narrowed optics, startled when something touched him. He looked down at the sparkling, who cocked its head and chirped. Sunstreaker had no idea what it said, but the tone was unmistakably questioning.

He had to admit the action surprised him. He hadn't noticed until now that, though the sparkling reacted when things affected it, it had never actually acknowledged the world around it. At least not so directly as it was doing right now.

"Did Thing just…"

He glanced at Sideswipe who looked as shocked as he felt. There was a sudden rush of happiness through their bond and Sunstreaker reveled in it. If Sideswipe was happy it meant he'd completely discarded the idea of deactivation.

Thing chirped again, moving one tiny hand to point at Sideswipe as if asking what was wrong with the red twin. Sunstreaker couldn't help but laugh and pick it up and hold it close to his chest plate. Well, not too close because those back panels could scratch his paint, but a little closer than usual.

"He's just being an afthead, little guy. You'll get used to it in no time."

"Kiss my skidplate, slagger," Sideswipe grumbled, but Sunstreaker could feel he was just joking.

The red mech watched his brother with the sparkling and couldn't help but snicker at how cute they looked.

"Hey, do me a favor and wash it while I drink my energon and gather some things."

"You're not taking him back to that caretaking place, right?" Sunstreaker's voice promised lots of pain for him and for each and every mech that worked in that place, as he made his way towards their washrack.

"Are you kidding me? I'll take it with me today. The only way I'll ever set foot there again is to tear their diodes off and shove them through their tail pipes," Sideswipe said as he sat to quietly enjoy his breakfast. He knew that his brother would go all out on the poor sparkling and take almost three times what it normally took to clean it.

His optics flickered as something his brother said finally got his attention, "Did you just called it him?"

There was a laugh coming from the washrack, followed by what appeared to be the sparkling's chirping attempt to copy the golden twin's laughter, "The little guy has gone through a lot to still be considered a thing. I know that's supposed to be done after five meta-cycles, but we already gave him a name. Besides, when have we ever followed the rules?"

* * *

Meta-cycle - 13 months.

Breem - 8.3 minutes

_Edited: 3/08/09_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **Do not own.

**A/N: **Tell me of any mistakes you see and I'll fix them as soon as possible.

* * *

**(Present)**

"Did you see how Sunny took down Starscream? That was sweet!" Sideswipe exclaimed.

It had been a gruesome battle, but they had won. Their reward was this little moment of peace. Everyone else was in recharge or on duty and they had the rec room all to themselves. They sat on the couch talking and pretending to watch some old human movie. While the five mechs considered each other family, they seldom had the time to spend moments like this.

Sunstreaker frowned in disgust as he ground out, "Slagger scorched my paint."

"And you ripped his null rays off," the engineer pointed out to his long time friend.

Sunstreaker shrugged and looked at the engineer with a smirk on his face, "Least I could do. It's not easy to get the color I use."

"You better not start whining or I'll turn off your vocal processor," Ratchet groused. He was the only one with a cube in his hands and he took a sip before smiling mischievously at the golden twin and added, "Again."

"Primus knows he's just going to bitch until you get him the exact paint he wants," Sideswipe added, laughing at his brother's glare.

While Ratchet and Wheeljack were always weary of Sunstreaker's violent outbursts - unless it was a medical emergency - and Prowl had never really learned to feared him, Sideswipe was the only one that dared goad the Lamborghini into a fight. Sunstreaker appeared to be considering beating his brother into scrap. A fact that only made the red twin grin wider in challenge.

"I will try to get it as soon as possible, Sunstreaker," Prowl's said and Sunstreaker glanced at the tactician before settling down again.

The golden Lamborghini smiled smugly, optics bright as he preened, "Thanks, Prowlie. See, he understands my needs."

All of them, except Prowl, laughed at Sunstreaker, who just glared at them. Anyone else beside them would've been dead for even thinking about it.

"I think that's not exactly the reason he's going to get that paint," Wheeljack said, while patting the warrior's arm condescendingly.

Prowl let out a sigh before replying, "It is not Sunstreaker's hostile behavior I am trying to keep at minimum level, but Ratchet's."

Everyone blinked at that, turning their optics to Ratchet before breaking down into a fit of laughter. Prowl just gave out a small smile and his door wings twitched a little in amusement.

"I see your humor is improving," Ratchet drawled sarcastically, finishing his cube. He disposed of the empty cube and made his way back to the couch; glaring the still laughing mechs into silence.

They watched the human movie for a few minutes. Enough time to understand that humans were crazy enough to make a movie with some evil plant singing that it wants to eat people.

"Hey, anyone else noticed how weird Jazz has been acting?" Wheeljack asked suddenly, blocking out the movie from his processor.

"What do you mean?" Prowl asked, throwing the engineer a curious look.

Ratchet snorted, "Prowl, sometimes I wonder how you can be so good at what you do. Haven't you seen him lately?"

The twins watched as Prowl got lost in thought, a frown slowly appearing on his face. Even Wheeljack seemed to be interested in the answer.

Prowl opened his mouth plates and slowly said, "I am afraid I have no idea what you are talking about. I will admit his fighting today was reckless, but I have not met with him lately."

He seemed dissatisfied with the answer. Ratchet couldn't help but feel bad for the kid, but after some thinking he had decided to let it sort it out by themselves. Prowl would not believe him and Jazz didn't want to hear him anyway.

"Keep it that way," Sideswipe chirped happily, ignoring the glares everyone else sent him.

Prowl was silent, trying to figure out Jazz's behavior. Now that someone had pointed it out to him, it seemed so obvious. Sunstreaker, who was sitting beside him, found himself rubbing the door wings like he'd done ever since Prowl was a sparkling. Like always, the action seemed to relax him.

"Haven't you wondered why?" The golden twin asked him and Prowl shook his head.

"Not really. I am busy," - Prowl admitted. He sounded confused and slightly sad, as he looked at both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, "He's been avoiding me? Why?"

They knew that whenever Prowl was left to work, he would forget about everything else. It wasn't exactly his fault that the world around him failed to interest him. They were still glad that he was able to find a way around it.

"Don't know. Don't care," was said almost simultaneously by both warriors.

They didn't like Prowl to be sad, but they didn't want him with Jazz either. At least not until the Porsche proved to them he deserved to be with the Datsun. They both agreed the saboteur had to kill Megatron or something of equal importance to impress them.

"Twins?" Wheeljack said, optics narrowed.

"We didn't do a thing," they both admitted, "He's a hard one to catch unaware, you know."

Ratchet silently wondered why he was stuck with such idiots. Not that he blamed Prowl for the incoming drama he was almost sure was going to happen.

"Talk to him, Prowl."

"He will not speak the truth unless he wants to say it," Prowl replied and Ratchet cursed, knowing the Datsun was right.

Sometimes he felt like he was part of a bad soap opera. The medic swore that if someone suddenly had a case of erased dataraxes or returned from the Matrix, he was finding a way back to Cybertron and away from the Ark's crew.

At that moment Jazz came into the room. There was a bounce in his steps that told them the saboteur had his internal radio on. His steps faltered as he took in the scene before him.

"Hey!"

And if his grin was smaller than when he came in, no one mentioned it. Prowl took a look at his friend and checked his chronometer.

"What are you doing up?"

"Why do ya wanna know?" the Porsche answered nonchalantly as he grabbed a cube for himself.

The answer stunned the group. The twins suppressing their urge to beat the other black and white for daring to speak like that to Prowl. Prowl's door wings dropped a little as he tried to come up with a logical reason for being treated like that. Prowl looked as the saboteur served himself a cube without even looking at him.

"Jazz can we…"

Jazz interrupted him, voice a tone more serious than what his actions presented, "Not now, Prowl. I just came for a little somethin' to drink before patrol."

"You do not have patrol tonight," Prowl replied with a frown.

"I do now," Jazz said with more force than necessary, but still avoiding to look at him, "I traded with Bee since he was still a little achy. I left ya a message t' tell ya about the change."

"You could have told me in person."

Jazz turned, visor finally settling on the Datsun, "Thought about it, but ya were waitin' for the twins t' get out of medbay. Didn't want to interrupt _that_ moment."

Prowl was sure there was a hint of something in Jazz's words, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what. He had to admit that he was always worried about his adopted creators when they got injured and could not concentrate fully as long as they were in the medbay.

"Alright. Can we talk after you return from patrol?" the police car continued. He wasn't going to let the other one avoid him. Not without a good reason.

"Let's see, Prowl," Jazz replied as he turned and walked away without looking back.

The Datsun watched him go in silence.

"Prowl, you okay?" Sunstreaker asked, still rubbing his door wings.

"I do not understand," was the reply he got from the Datsun as he got up to leave the room too.

Sideswipe frowned, knowing their little get together was over. His little Prowl looked so sad he almost felt like dragging the Porsche back… almost…

"You can't understand what?"

Prowl's door wings twitched as he looked at the red twin, "He called me Prowl."

* * *

Jazz left the rec room in a hurry. If he'd known they were there he wouldn't have gone inside. All he wanted right now was to march right in and drag the tactician away from Sunstreaker. The image of Prowl looking content while Sunstreaker rubbed his doorwings taunted him.

Prowl had looked so relaxed. Jazz had always imagined being him the one that could get the other black and white relax. He'd dreamed of touching those door wings of his… Instead, it was that slagger who got the privilege of touching _his_ Prowl.

The Porsche transformed as soon as he was out of the base and joined Cliffjumper for patrol. His mind already made up. He was not going to stand idle while Sunstreaker took advantage of Prowl. Do it with style or don't bother doing it, right? Well, he was not giving up without a good fight.

* * *

The movie they are watching is:

_Little Shop of Horrors:_ A musical about a nerdish florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant alien man-eating plant who demands to be fed. The 1986 version because that's the one with the happier ending.

Edited: 3/8/09


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **Not mine.

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone that reviewed. As always, tell me what needs to be fixed and I'll fix it as soon as possible.

* * *

_**(Past)**_

"I guess this means the rumors are correct," Ratchet said, taking one last scan at the sparkling before him.

"What rumors?"

Ratchet cycled air through his vents before handing the black and white sparkling to the Sideswipe.

"The rumors that claim traveling clans have their own language. I don't think you can grasp the amount of trouble you'd be if news of you taking care of a clan sparkling ever reached a traveling mech. Those fraggers are very protective of each other and their ways of living."

"So he's been speaking another language all this time?" Sideswipe's relieved tone preventing Ratchet from insulting the half-clocked fragger that wanted him to repeat himself. Instead, he answered him with a simple nod.

"Good. For a moment there I thought that mech from the caretaking center was right and Thing was spouting gibberish."

Ratchet frowned displeased, "Caretaking centers don't know a thing about medicine."

"That's what Sunny said," Sideswipe answered absentmindedly as he perched the little black and white on his left shoulder.

The sparkling didn't utter a sound, but the few times he repaired mechs with door wings told Ratchet the sparkling was agitated in this new position. Its back panels fluttered until settling high on its back.

"He'll learn our language, right?" the red mech asked, "Isn't there like a download or something? The faster it's done the better. I mean, you did say I'd get in trouble if someone finds out where he came from."

Ratchet refrained from reminding the twin that the sparkling was still young enough to not be a he yet. Previous discussions hadn't work and he doubted this one would work either. Besides, waiting or not waiting one stellar cycle for its new upgrades to officially change a mere pronoun was not Ratchet's problem.

"I've already taken care of it. It now depends on how adaptable is the sparkling's vocal processor . It can still reject the download. If that happens and it deletes the download…" Ratchet trailed off, watching as Sideswipe grabbed a rather colorful cube he'd been using for decoration around his office and handed it to the sparkling.

He watched clinically as it followed the cube's movement, chirping animatedly for the first time since it arrived at the repair center.

"Doc? You were saying?" Sideswipe asked, blue optics turning from the cooing sparkling to the now frowning medic.

Ratchet flickered his optics and continued talking, while comparing what he just witnessed with his previously collected data.

"My apologies. As I was saying, we have to wait and see if it accepts the download. Rejection has a high probability of meaning the sparkling will never learn anything else beside what it already has."

The medic watched as the blue optics of the gladiator mech dimmed. At least the idiot wasn't stupid enough to miss the implications. If it rejected the download it would need to be taken to a traveling clan or recycled. Either way he'd loose the sparkling.

"However," Ratchet continued, "it appears that I have missed something."

"Missed?"

Sideswipe's attention was already trained on the medic. Ratchet was hard pressed not to laugh, given that the sparkling was currently hitting the side of the mech's helmet with the cube while clicking and thrilling happily.

"Tell me. Have you noticed something different in the way it interacts with its surroundings?"

"You do realize this is my first time taking care of a sparkling, right?" Sideswipe drawled gaining a pointed glare from the medic, "Frag! Look, doc, he spends all the cycle blabbering in that weird language of his."

"Have you noticed a pattern to all his talking?"

Sideswipe cycled air through his vents, "Well, I don't know if it's a pattern or not, but he does talk more when either Sunstreaker or me are with him."

"And?"

"And he ignores Wheeljack most of the time."

"Most?"

"Okay, so I'm not leaving Thing in a sparkling center, but I can't take him with me all the time and Sunny is busy with his new opening at the gallery. Wheeljack works at home, so he's been taking care of Thing from time to time. Jack's been real careful and Thing's pretty quiet for the most part."

"You left a sparkling in the care of Wheeljack?" Ratchet asked slowly, as he tried to curb his anger and not maim the mech in front of the sparkling.

Just when he thought his previous assessment of the gladiator mech in front of him could not get any lower… Who in his right processing capabilities left a sparkling with a mech that needed his limbs replaced almost every deca-cycle?

"Look, you asked for a pattern. Thing mostly ignores Wheeljack. I've seen him talking to himself while Jack's almost in front of him. It's like he doesn't see Wheeljack at all or doesn't care about him. Then Jack would talk and Thing will do anything to get close to him."

"Speech indicators," Ratchet said, leaving the confrontation for another time and concentrating on the problem at hand.

"What?"

"I think it just wants to be near Wheeljack's speech indicators."

"Is it really that important?" Sideswipe asked, grabbing the cube from the sparkling and tossing it in the air.

Ratchet watched as the sparkling's optics followed the cube as if there was nothing else in the world more important.

"I need to do more test and scans, but it's looking as if its meta processor took most of the damage. If I'm right we won't have to worry about it rejecting the download. In the meantime, paint everything and anything the sparkling uses and needs in the most brilliant colors that you can get your hands on."

Ratchet refused to say what difficulties a damaged meta processor would bring until he was absolutely sure it was the correct diagnostic. A sparkling with a warped sense of reality was not a sparkling the government itself would allow existence.

Ratchet watched as Sideswipe placed the cooing sparkling on the sparkling carrier attached to his hip. Its back panels drooped and the red twin caressed its cranial unit absentmindedly before waving at medic and leaving to do Primus knows what. Ratchet finished updating sparkling 314-06910-I records and went out of the room to gather his daily update of the construction of the sparkling's upgrades.

Ratchet had to admit being friends with an engineer had its perks. Specially if one let them sparklingsit. One of them being the construction of frames and upgrades. No wonder Wheeljack had volunteered to do this for free. Knowing his friend, the sparkling's upgrades would be the envy of even the Tower mechs. And maybe…

Maybe Wheeljack could help him if his diagnostic was correct.

* * *

Stellar-cycle: 7.5 months

Klik - 1.2 minutes


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **Not mine. Just playing with them.

**A/N: **Just in case, I always update this story with two chapters: Past and Present. Thanks to all the people that reviewed and, like always, if you see any mistakes tell me. I'll fix them as soon as possible.

* * *

_**(Present)**_

Jazz quietly slipped inside the room he'd been trying to hack for almost half a breem. He smirked in triumph as he surveyed what was clearly Prowl's office. Everything in order and in place. Little cute details like that made the Porsche realize he'd fallen hard this time. It also reminded him that he couldn't fail either.

After the first scan of the room he didn't waste any time in unsubspacing a brown package. He knew Prowl could enter at any moment given the Datsun's workaholic nature and he hurriedly left his first of many gifts to come on top of the desk.

He meant to leave, but his optics caught a flash of red coming from one of Prowl's data pads. Curiosity overwhelmed him and he took the object in his hands, vowing to leave as soon as he found out what was wrong with it.

It wasn't an emergency or some sort of code. In fact, Jazz wondered if there was even logic behind it. He left the data pad where he found it and grabbed another one. He was rewarded with the same thing. The information in Prowl's data pads was marked in a myriad of brilliant colors. Almost as if a rainbow had exploded inside the data pads…

A rainbow with important information. Long vorns as a spec ops told him only the most important information in each sentence was marked. Cute, but extremely dangerous. He had to find a way to talk Prowl out of doing it without giving himself up.

Leaving the data pads in the same place he found them, Jazz's visor now looked upon the second in command's office. The optics behind the visor widened as he took on the subtle splashes of color that dotted the room. Colors that he had dismissed when he entered, but that now stood out glaringly at him.

The edge of the desk, the chairs, the weapon's rack Prowl always insisted to keep on his office… Everything was marked. From long strips of color to small, almost miniscule, dots.

He refused to acknowledge the similarity between Prowl's chosen colors for decoration and the twins. Instead, he turned his attention Prowl's desk and what appeared was a locked drawer.

He knew he should've been out of the office by now. But, he was noticing things for the first time and he wanted to know more. He could spare half a breem…

Jazz made short work of the lock in record time and wished with all his spark he hadn't done it. If only to spare himself the knowledge. He kept taking things out. A photo here. A holo disk there. Drawings!

All this time he'd been under the assumption that Prowl's thing with Sunstreaker (or both twins if the rumors about how twins functioned were true) was new. Looking at the evidence Jazz realized he had quite a lot of work to do if he planned to take Prowl away from them. What made his energon boil was the pictures that featured a familiar medic and an engineer.

Ratchet and Wheeljack knew.

Ratchet knew and didn't tell him. Slagger was probably laughing at him. Probably went and told the twins and Wheeljack all about his love for Prowl. They were all having a laugh at his expense…

He wondered if Prowl was among them, but quickly dismissed the thought. Prowl was not like that.

Jazz left the office as silently as he slipped inside it, keeping his anger in check until he reached the targeting range. If he'd only searched a little longer he might've found the only thing unmarked in the entire office was a picture of himself.

* * *

Breem - 8.3 minutes


End file.
